Seventy-five percent of women who smoke would like to quit, and yet only two to three percent quit every year... It's significant because we can help women quit smoking.

I'm convinced that we can shape a different future for this country as it relates to mental health and as it relates to suicide.

There is no health without mental health.

Our nation's blood supply is safer than it's ever been, and it's getting safer as we speak.

Many people believe that dealing with overweight and obesity is a personal responsibility. To some degree they are right, but it is also a community responsibility. When there are no safe, accessible places for children to play or adults to walk, jog, or ride a bike, that is a community responsibility.

This is no time to let down our guard on youth violence. Research demonstrates that appropriate interventions made during or prior to adolescence can direct young people away from violence toward healthy and constructive lives.

Otis Brawley is one of America's truly outstanding physician scientists. In How We Do Harm, he challenges all of us-- physicians, patients, and communities-- to recommit ourselves to the pledge to 'do no harm.'

The same things that lead to disparities in health in this country on a day-to-day basis led to disparities in the impact of Hurricane Katrina.

The challenge is to become part of the struggle, to make a positive difference.